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On Valentine's Day, Banks sat down for a 90-minute conversation with Harvard Business School's associate dean, Youngme Moon. During her candid, 90-minute chat, as excerpted by The Harbus, the school's independent newspaper, the media mogul explained why she enrolled in the school's Owner/President Management Program.

"There's a difference between a career and a business," she explained. "I'm not looking to build a company based on fans." Rather, she hopes to run a strategic operation that promotes her beliefs and simultaneously turns out a profit.

She admitted that in her working life, she's not as tough as she appears to be on America's Next Top Model. "[I] would love to have her in the boardroom," she says of the character she's created for the reality show. "I wish I was hard...I have armor, but a strategic knife can still get in those creases."

Looks like Banks is tough enough for the Ivy League

And as the 38-year-old nears completion of her HBS education, she's learned that success is "not about being the biggest, but being the best."

"Don't chase the money, even if you want to be a banker," she advised business up-and-comers. "Chase the passion. Chase the dream."

Now that's what we call a good financial model.

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Your information may be shared with other NBCUniversal businesses and used to better tailor our services and advertising to you. For more details about how we use your information, see our Privacy Policy. If you are located outside of the U.S., your information may be transferred to, processed and used in the U.S.